Knitting device



June 9, 1936. ENGEL 2,043,958

KNITTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 3, 1935 6 m u 6 WITN ESS INVENTOR fuafA/f ENGEL ATTORN EYS Patented June 9, 1936 UNITED STATES KNITTING DEVICE Eugene Engel, New York, N. Y., assignor to Bernhard Ullnann Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 3, 1935, Serial No. 34,545

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a device for knitting sweaters and the like by hand with a suitable yarn or thread.

The object of the invention is to provide a knitting device, manipulated by hand during the knitting operations, which places upon the knitters hands and wrists a minimum of strain,

weight, or effort and permits the knitting operations to be carried out at a greater speed with more ease and less tiring of the knitter. In addition, the construction of the device overcomes the tendency for the metal to crystallize and break.

In knitting devices heretofore in use, it was found that in the course of knitting larger articles, such as sweaters, the hands of the knitter were required to carry a substantial portion of the weight of the knitted material causing a drag on the hands and wrists of the worker. It was also found that in the older type of device, there was a tendency of the needles to twist in the hands of the knitter, thereby causing like twisting of the thread or yarn of the knitted material. In the earlier types of devices, the constant motion of the needles resulted in crystallization of the metal at a point close to the end of the needles, resulting in breakage of one of the needles and the further uselessness of the device. It was also found in the earlier devices that when sliding the stitches from the needles to the body portion, the yarn would become frayed by reason of encounter thereof with the acute bend of the body of the device at the union of the needle and the body portion.

The present invention overcomes the foregoing objections and has factory.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 represents the needle of the present invention in use in the hands of a knitter, with a substantial portion of a sweater body completed. Fig. 2 represents the device of Fig. 1 apart from the knitted work and Fig. 3 represents a modification of the devices of Fig. 2, insofar as the body portion of the device is concerned.

The knitting device, generally referred in as a circular steel knitting needle, is a complete unitary structure as shown in the drawing and comprises a highly flexible body portion l, which maybe made either of chain having a multiplicity of links 2, or of wire 3 which has little resistance to bending or flexing, i. e. that it be substantially inert, both types of body structure being readily bendable to a curved position during use by reason of its inherent non-resisting proven to be highly satis characteristics and without any effort on the part of the knitter to bring the body to a curved or arcuate contour. Each end of the body portion l is provided with a shank 4 and a needle 5. Each of the needles 5 terminates in a knitting 5 point 6. The needles 5, from the base of the knitting points 6 to the commencement of the point of merger 1 with the shank 4, are substantially longer than the width of the knitters hands and consequently the knitters hands in 10 knitting posture engage the continuous and straight portion of 'the needles 5 with the knitting points 6 extending beyond the index fingers of the knitter. The points 1, at which the needles 5 and the shanks 4 meet, extend beyond the 5 palms and small fingers of the knitter during the knitting posture of the hands; consequently the knitters hands engage only the straight portions of the needles 5 during knitting. The shanks 4, which are an integral part of the needles 5, are curved inwardly at a substantial angle and are preferably thinner throughout their length than the needles 5. The entire shank portions lie beyond the palms and small fingers of the knitters hands, during knitting posture, and do not en- 5 V gage the knitters hands during manipulation of the knitting points 6. The needles 5, the knitting points 6 and the shanks 4 are preferably made of steel inflexible and round in crosssection, the tips of the knitting points 6 being substantially of the same diameter as the shanks 4. The body I, 3, whether cable or chain links, is made of steel, smoothly swedged, or otherwise attached to the ends of the shanks 4. In Fig. 1, the knitting device is illustrated in the hands of a knitter during manipulation, with a substantial portion of a sweater completed and with the respective parts of the needles 5, knitting points 6, shanks 4 and the body portions I in the positions they occupy during knitting operations. It is preferred to curve the shanks 4 with respect to the needles 5 at a substantial angle in order to give the body portions l and the work a most suitable curvature for carrying out the knitting. The angle formed by the longitudinal axis of the needle and the chord of the are from the point of juncture of the needle and the shank to the point of juncture of the body and the shank may be approximately 140. The angular relation of the shanks 4 with respect of the needles 5 may in some instances be greater or less than 140, depending upon the type of work to be done, but the angle should be substantial and should be preferably greater than a right-angle.

The knitter during manipulation of the device holds the needles 5. as shown in Fig. 1, only on the straight portions thereof with the knitting points 6 extending beyond the index fingers and under control of the index fingers at one side and the thumbs at the other side of the needles The curved shanks l extend entirely beyond the palm and small fingers of the knitter and curve downwardly toward the lap of the knitter, in which the finished work rests. The curved shanks 4 direct the work downwardly into the lap of the knitter and the curvature of the work as it progresses is controlled by the degree of curvature of the shanks 4. Inasmuch as the body portions i or 3 are made of substantially inert material and do not offer any great resistance to manipulation of the needles 5, such body portions readily continue in the curved arc of the shank portions 4, as is illustrated in Fig. 1. It has been found that by controlling the curvature of the body i, by utilization of the curved shanks 4, the strain of bending the body I does not take place at the point of junction of the shanks and the body, but rather throughout the curve of the body I, thereby overcoming breakage of the body in proximity to the point of junction of the shanks l and the body I.

It has been found that knitting devices constructed according to this invention are easy of manipulation and do not offer any substantial resistance to manipulation by the knitter. The curvature assumed by the work directs the material into the lap of the worker. The knitting is easier, less tiresome and faster. The needles do not turn in the hands of the worker and consequently the work is not twisted. The stitches or loops readily slide from the needles over the shanks to the body portion, following the curvature of the shanks l, avoiding sharp angles which tend to fray or break the yarn. By interposing the curved shank portion between the needle and the body, it has been found that breakage of the body is largely avoided inasmuch as constant bending of the body at the same point is avoided.

I claim:

A circular knitting device comprising a body having little inherent resistance to bending or flexing, a pair of straight needles, each needle having a knitting point at the free end thereof, curved shanks joining the needles and the body portion, the straight portions of the needles being greater in length than the width of the knitters hands, said shanks when the knitting device is in knitting position with knitting carried by the body portion, lying entirely beyond the knitters hands with the knitting hanging downwardly, the curved shank portion shaping the ends of the body portion in a generally arcuate configuration and maintaining the body portion and the work in such configuration to permit inspection of the knitting loops formed upon said body portion.

EUGENE ENGEL. 

